Funding shortage negatively impacts humanitarian activities in Sudan

September 19, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The well-being of millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Sudan is severely impacted by the lack of funding, said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan in a statement released on Tuesday.

The Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2017 for Sudan “appeals for U$804 million, of which about $304 million has been received. This represents only 38 percent of the funds required,” said Ms Marta Ruedas.

To give an idea about the dire situation, Ruedas said that 49 health facilities have been closed this year in Darfur, Blue Nile, South Kordofan and eastern states stressing that “These closures have left some 637,000 people without proper access to essential primary health care”.

Further, she said that the lack of funding also forced many aid groups to reduce their presence in the country even in Darfur and hand over management of facilities to the State Ministries of Health which also has limited resources.

The western Sudan region is hit by a severe outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea as the government says or cholera according to impendent doctors groups and activists.

“If the outbreak continues, another 40,000 AWD cases may be expected over the next 5-8 months, more than doubling the current caseload,” said the Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan.

The funding shortage is not affecting the 1.6 million displaced person in Darfur camps but also some 460,000 South Sudanese refugees who have arrived in Sudan since December 2013.

“Without continued support from donors, thousands of refugee families will not have access to shelter, and refugee children will be deprived of education,” Ms Ruedas said.

About 65 percent of the South Sudanese refugees are children, of whom nearly 60 percent are out of school.

(ST)